Tapping into electrical system

[1995E]

Hey guys,

I am trying to get ideas on how to tap into the electrical system. What I am trying to do is install an ambient lighting system. I am planning to be as thorough as a I can be with it and wire it to the interior door. This will all be controlled by an arduino.

I have several questions,

1. I am trying to figure out how I will detect when the ignition is on, when a door is open, etc.

Any ideas?

2. Also, I have no idea how to tap into the accessories box. I am trying to keep everything looking as stock as I can. Recently, I just found out car's frame is used as part of the circuit. So I am assuming I can put my negative to anything on the frame and wire a positive to any of the unused fuses on the accessories box (stated as unused in the manual)?Or is this bad practice and unsafe?

3. From what I can understand, there are 3 power modes.
A mode where the electricity stays on until the power save feature turns them off (interior lights, USB power plugs, 12V power, etc), an accessories mode that will turn off when you open the door after turning off the car, and power while the car is running. I want to wire it in a way so that the powersave feature of the car turns it off. Has anyone tapped into the Ford Explorer's power before with no problems?

4. Would it be bad to share a ground point that something is already grounded to?

EDIT: I actually want to add another accessories box separate from the current accessories box so I can add new functions. Is this possible? Anyone have any tips on how to do it?

 

[blwnsmoke]

This may be of no help to you but a possible suggestion.

Ford makes an Ambient lighting kit that goes under the dashboard to light up where your feet are. How about trying to get the wiring for that kit to see where it is tapped into when adding that? If you do that, you can feed off of that for all the additional lights you want to add.

That's the only thing I got.. if you tap in to where it tells you, you know you are tapping into accessory wiring that lights up with ignition.

Hope that helps.. if not, ignore it lol

 

[1995E]

Hope that helps.. if not, ignore it lol

Every little suggestion helps. I am a bit confused about the way this car is wired up.

I removed the number 4 fuse which was for the on demand interior lights yet the interior lights stayed working. Would it be a bad idea to try and take the fuse panel apart and wire in extra wires to the unused fuses? Or am I complicating things?

I do wonder how that aftermarket ambient light kit is added in, although I dont want to buy it because I made my current set up for less than 30 dollars and it is fully customizable.

Any idea where I can find pdfs or pictures like the schematics that are occassionally posted ob the forum?

 

[jmr061]

You can get a one month subscription to the vehicle service manual which includes full wiring diagrams for like $25.

Get it through www.motorcraftservice.com

 

[blwnsmoke]

Any idea where I can find pdfs or pictures like the schematics that are occassionally posted ob the forum?

Post 7 has all the instructions but the whole thread is pretty helpful.

http://www.explorerforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=404754

 

[peterk9]

Every little suggestion helps. I am a bit confused about the way this car is wired up.

I removed the number 4 fuse which was for the on demand interior lights yet the interior lights stayed working...........

Did you happen to have the door open when you removed the fuse? If so, then the lights remained on because of fuse #12 . Interior lights are operated by both fuses for different circumstances.

Peter

 

[1995E]

You can get a one month subscription to the vehicle service manual which includes full wiring diagrams for like $25.

Get it through www.motorcraftservice.com

Thanks. When I searched on Ebay for a Ford Explorer service manual, I found that there is a DVD on Ebay for like 20 bucks. Does anyone know if this is a DVD full of PDFs or is it just video to tell you how to do things? http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-2011-F...Explorer&hash=item27e84ebb00&vxp=mtr#viTabs_0

Did you happen to have the door open when you removed the fuse? If so, then the lights remained on because of fuse #12 . Interior lights are operated by both fuses for different circumstances.

Peter

Yeah, I had the door open. I didn't think of closing it to test it out. Thanks for that notice!

 

[twodogs603]

Thanks. When I searched on Ebay for a Ford Explorer service manual, I found that there is a DVD on Ebay for like 20 bucks. Does anyone know if this is a DVD full of PDFs or is it just video to tell you how to do things? http://www.ebay.com/itm/2010-2011-F...Explorer&hash=item27e84ebb00&vxp=mtr#viTabs_0



Yeah, I had the door open. I didn't think of closing it to test it out. Thanks for that notice!

Some vehicles have the dome light 12v wire hot all the time and its activated by a ground signal. Not sure if Explorer is same way.

 

[1995E]

Does anyone have an idea as to how I can remove the rubber grommet that leads from the door to the chassis? I am trying to remove it to fish wire from the chassis to the door and I am trying to fish it into that rubber grommet. I also have no clue as to how I am going to fish it from the chassis. I took off the carpet and the plastic scuff plate and saw that I have metal blocking me from directly accessing it from the chassis side. Although there is a plastic cover that wires are coming from.